Bicycle Mechanics - Schwinn Mesa Runner in need of TLC

I bought a 1984 Schwinn Mesa Runner at a garage sale yesterday. It has been in a storage shed for a long time and is completely dry and gunky. The rear derailleur has a cog whose teeth are worn down. It's so smooth that if you didn't know what it was supposed to look like, you'd think it was some weird little wheel back there.

The brake levers have a bit of vertical play in them and there's some rust on the rims.

I figure the whole thing needs to be gone through - cleaned, lubed, adjusted, etc. The thing is, I don't know anything about bike maintenance or repair.

It has a 10 speed drive train, but I'm willing to consider changing it out to a single speed.

I'd also like to add fenders and a rack to it.

Advice?

Should I take it all apart before cleaning it?

Where do I get parts?

Should I try to make what's on it work, or replace all the cables and the derailleur?

go to your library get a book on working on bikes or bike shop and order parks big blue book or go to parks website and dig in!

OK, good idea, but what about parts for the bike? Should I turn it into a single speed? I think it would be best to overhaul the entire bike (all the moving parts, that is). What parts will I need to buy? Isn't compatibility an issue?

Might be, depending on what parts you want to replace. The freewheel would probably be easy and inexpensive to replace, so you sure don't need to go singlespeed unless you really want to. For a replacement, you'd just look for the same number of cogs that are on the existing one, and it'll be compatible with your shifters. Preferably stick with Shimano if this bike has the original componentry, which I believe was Shimano on these.

Brakes might just need new pads. New cables and housing all around will make the bike feel like new.

The rear derailleur is shot. The teeth on the chainring and the cassette all look good. The brakes look like they are new, but the bike is all dried out. I doubt it has been lubed since 1984. The front hub doesn't turn as freely as it should. I don't really know the condition of the freewheel.

The original drive train is Suntour AG, not Shimano. I'm thinking it all needs overhauling, but don't know what parts to buy or where to get them.

The rear derailleur is shot. The teeth on the chainring and the cassette all look good. The brakes look like they are new, but the bike is all dried out. I doubt it has been lubed since 1984. The front hub doesn't turn as freely as it should. I don't really know the condition of the freewheel.

The original drive train is Suntour AG, not Shimano. I'm thinking it all needs overhauling, but don't know what parts to buy or where to get them.

The bike is not worth putting much money into, but it could be a good one to learn on. I would recommend stripping the frame of its parts and cleaning everything up as well as you can. Sounds like you'll need to go through the whole bike, servicing bearings, lubricating other parts, making adjustments, etc. There's nothing to do but get started, and here are two websites that will help you immensely if you take the time to use them:

www.sheldonbrown.com
www.parktool.com

I'd try to make everything that you possibly can work, instead of replacing it. I mean absolutely no offense by this, but this is a very low end bike and isn't worth spending much money on. If you replace something like the rear derailleur, ebay might be your best bet, any old mtb rear derailleur that's in working order will do, the brand doesn't matter with friction shifting. And be very careful regarding the braking, the bike has steel rims and will have virtually no stopping ability when wet-

Hey, thanks. How about this derailleur?

http://www.bikepartsusa.com/product_info.asp?f_c=Derailleur&cp=1&p=01%2D102476

$11 seems reasonable to get this thing going again.

Hey, thanks. How about this derailleur?

http://www.bikepartsusa.com/product_info.asp?f_c=Derailleur&cp=1&p=01%2D102476

$11 seems reasonable to get this thing going again.

Yes, that should work, but I would go through the rest of the bike first and make sure there aren't other problems before buying it-

^^^I agree. Also, if that worn out pulley is the only thing about your current derailleur that is shot, you can very easily replace just those little pulley wheels. Your local bike shop may have a bunch of used ones laying around that would work fine, and they might just give them to you or sell you some very cheaply.